Match-safe.



' Mines 36s No. 836,139. PATENTED NOV. 20, 1906.

"c. PIGKARD,

- MATCH SAFE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-12. 1906.

In imzzzor n4: NORRIS F 'rzns cm, wasunvcrcm. n. c.

CHARLES PIOKARD, OF SAOKVILLE, NEW BRUNSWVICK, CANADA.

MATCH-SAFE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 20, 1906.

Application filed January 12,1906- Serial N0. 295,675-

To all whmn it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES ProKARD, of the town of Sackville, in the Province of New Brunswick and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Match-Safes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to match-safes; and the object is to provide a 1natch-box that can be conveniently operated by one hand to expel matches one at a time without opening the box and that can be safely carried in the pocket when not in use without danger of spilling the matches therefrom.

The device consists, essentially, of a matchbox of the ordinary form having a lid or cover for the purpose of filling the box and provided at one of its corners with an aperture large enough to allow the egress of a match and a thumb-actuated milled wheel mounted on the end of a spring for controlling access to said aperture.

' In the drawings which illustrate my invention, and in which similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the wheel elevated to allow matches to pass thereunder. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the wheel held in depressed position by means of a cam. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the milled wheel provided with a cam, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the wheel provided with an eccentric collar which may be substituted for the cam. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the wheel, showing the manner of its attachment to the spring.

Referring to the parts, 1. designates a match-box, provided with a hinged cover 2 and a milled wheel 3, projecting through a slot 3 in the box. The wheel 3 is mounted in the forked end of the flat spring 4, the other end of which is fixed to the interior of the box. The wheel 3 is placed above and in the path of an aperture 5 in one corner of the box.

In the preferred form of the device a cam 7 is rigidly mounted on the axis of the wheel I and is adapted when the wheel is turned in the position shownin Fig. 3 to engage the wall of the match-box and thereby depress the wheel. It will thus be seen that when the safe is not in use the wheel may be depressed to lie in the path of the aperture, and thus prevent the egress of any matches. When it is desired to extract a match, the

wheel is turned by means of the thumb, so that the cam is disengaged from the wall of the match-box. The wheel then rises through the aperture and allows a match to fall under it. On turning the wheel farther in a backward direction the milled surface engages the match and forces it through the aperture 5.

Instead of using a cam, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, for controlling the wheel Inlay use an eccentric collar 6, mounted on the axis of the wheel and operating in the same manner as the cam.

In the preferred form of my device a longitudinal partition 13 is suspended from the inner side of the wall and extends approximately to half the depth of the match-box. This partition prevents the matches from clogging or interfering with the ejecting mechanism and allows them to pass singly underneath the wheel.

The operation of the device is as follows: i

The wheel being locked in a depressed position by any of the means shown, the operator releases the locking mechanism and allows the wheel to rise through the aperture, as shown in Fig. 2. On slightly shaking the box a match falls under the wheel, and on drawing the thumb over the wheel in a backward direction the milled edge engages the match and forces it through the aperture 5. The spring 4 yields readily to the pressure of the thumb and allows the wheel to adjust itself to matches of varying thickness. When Y a sufficient number of matches have been removed, the wheel is again depressed and locked, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to prevent matches falling thereunder and escaping while the box is being carried in the pocket.

While I have shown the preferred form of my device, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction shown, as many modifications may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention so that the same may be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1.. A match-box comprising a receptacle having an aperture in one end and a slot adjacent one side thereof, a milled wheel. operating in said slot, a spring holding said wheel in a normally elevated position, and a cam rigidly mounted on the axis of said wheel.

2. A match-box comprising an apertured receptacle, a hinged cover therefor, a milled Wheel operating in a slot in said receptacle, a spring adapted to hold said Wheel in a normally elevated position, and means for locking said Wheel in a depressed position, said means comprising a cam mounted adjacent said Wheel and adapted at intervals to engage the inner surface of said receptacle.

3. A match-box comprising a receptacle having an aperture in one end and a slot adjacent one side thereof, a hinged cover for said receptacle, a milled Wheel operating in said slot and mounted on a spring adapted to hold said Wheel in a normally elevated position, and a cam rigidly fixed to the axis of said Wheel and adapted at intervals to main- 15 tain it in a depressed position.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWo Witnesses.

CHARLES PICKARD. Witnesses:

FRANK A. HARRrsoN, GUsTAVE BEUTELsPAoHERL 

